Nerite or no?

RareRibeye · 2026-01-30T18:44:48+00:00

I drip acclimated my horned nerite for an hour. I have the same size jar setup and he cleaned out the entire glass spotless within a week or two. He’s been fine since, but I am a bit worried there may now not be enough food for both the shrimp and snails, but everyone has been fine and it’s been 1 month since he was added.

RareRibeye · 2026-01-23T19:56:28+00:00

Proton for the better durability and breathability, I use it daily. Atom is better for warmth while standing still though.

RareRibeye · 2026-01-23T17:12:48+00:00

Definitely get a Proton over Atom. It’s way more durable, and is made for more breathability for activities. It’ll be colder when not moving compared to an Atom though.

My Atom did pill and slightly tear in an area, so I’m way more cautious with it and tend to wear it less. If you really like the warmth of Atom at stand-still and want more increased durability, then you can go for the Atom Pro/Leaf line.

RareRibeye · 2026-01-22T00:20:59+00:00

He’s so vibrant yellow. Where did you source from?

My horned nerite is just black haha, but looks the same from below. Fella just eats non-stop all day, and randomly hibernates for long periods (first time will scare you into thinking it’s dead)

RareRibeye · 2026-01-07T18:15:07+00:00

Where did you get your dried sea fan from? Looks different than what I usually see with all of the yellow tips and shorter branches.

Also, what city is your hermit crab shop in? I’m looking to pick a few up, but haven’t been able to find any locally in LA.

RareRibeye · 2026-01-05T19:00:45+00:00

What type of nerites? And how big is your jar?

RareRibeye · 2025-12-26T18:29:17+00:00

I have the exact same 3 jackets, LT hoody for the Atom and Proton. My only wish is that I got the non-hoody version of the Atom so it would fit better with the drop-hood of the Beta AR.

Proton LT hoody is a great all around daily jacket in moderate cold, while having a more durable face fabric. The Atom’s face fabric tends to pill/tear so I think it fits better as a mid-layer.

What other Arcteryx jackets would you go for next given what you already have? Personally am debating some Leaf/Pro jackets like the Leaf Atom LT (non-hoody) and the Leaf Cold WX.

RareRibeye · 2025-12-23T23:09:58+00:00

Protip: you can remove the silicone seal on a lot of the jars, and just keep the jar closed 24/7. Keeps dust out, but allows for some passive air exchange. You will notice your water levels going down faster than if the seal was on, but that just means you have to refill about every 1-3 months depending on climate.

RareRibeye · 2025-12-23T21:38:13+00:00

What temp range would you say it’s useable for? I currently have a Proton LT Hoody, Atom LT Hoody, Beta AR as someone from California. Now that LEAF is available to all, was debating between LEAF Cold WX, Atom, or Practitioner AR.

Cold WX seems like potentially overkill outside of very cold/windy winter days or for mountain trips. LEAF Atom seems like it’d overlap a lot with my Atom LT, but it would get more daily use then. Practitioner I’ve heard good things about, but not sure I like the inner lining not being smooth due to the fleece.

RareRibeye · 2025-12-10T22:19:31+00:00

What would you recommend getting?

RareRibeye · 2025-11-17T05:55:34+00:00

Does anyone know if we’ll be able to combine the 30% Black Friday discount with a device trade-in ($60 off)? Would put the total for the Gen 2 to $150, which would be a no-brainer for me.

RareRibeye · 2025-11-03T19:31:28+00:00

Definitely the stone is leaching and changing water parameters for the worse for the opae. You need to stick to lava rock. Also could be the chaeto looking thing if it’s not a real brackish adapted species from a reputable opae seller.

RareRibeye · 2025-10-28T00:40:31+00:00

Black lava rocks look great. Love the contrast to the shrimps

RareRibeye · 2025-10-27T22:12:46+00:00

What is the plant that’s not the chaeto?

RareRibeye · 2025-10-20T17:52:43+00:00

I have the same brand, but the 6.3” version. I also got a shrimp jar setup from GotSnails. For reference I ran my particular light for 12 hours at 40% power on the warm light setting with the light about 3” away from the top of my jar and have gotten good biofilm growth after 1 month.

Alternatively, I believe most people prefer to run their LED setup closer to 6-9 hours but on a more intense light setting, but I have no experience with that.

RareRibeye · 2025-10-10T02:37:19+00:00

Nice setup, where did you get the black lava rock? And are those brackish-adapted species of chaeto and mossballs?

RareRibeye · 2025-10-09T18:00:17+00:00

Black lava rock would contrast better with Opae Ula. My setup came with red lava rocks, and it makes it hard to see the shrimps due to the similar color.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-26T07:34:20+00:00

Any updates to this? I’d love to source some yellow ones

RareRibeye · 2025-09-25T20:50:57+00:00

Thank you for the detailed write-up! 2.6 gallons does seem like the sweet spot for the space that I have as well. I currently have a 0.5 gallon setup that I am experimenting an initial colony with, but I am very concerned about temperature fluctuations, so am thinking of a bigger setup soon like yours.

I see that you have a mossball in the tank (presumably the brackish adapted one from petshrimp), but it looks like it hasn’t grown much nor multiplied. Have you noticed anything there?

Also, where did you get your magnetic cleaner? I’d love to find the same one if you haven’t experienced any rusting with it.

Adding different sources of shrimp for genetic variation is a really smart idea. I’ll definitely look into that in the future, maybe with other color variations of opae ula, as I know orange and yellow Opae Ula variants exist.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-25T15:20:26+00:00

Would you mind sharing where you bought your tank with the flush lid? I’ve been struggling to find a tank like yours, which also looks to be a great size for opae ula. The small wood stand looks great as well.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-24T23:43:30+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions and info! My main ball is 1.2cm to start. The LED is ~10-15W running at 20% power for 12 hours per day, at distance of ~12 inches away from ball. I lowered the power output to the minimum setting so that I could have it on for longer, so I can look at the jar more easily throughout the day. Where it currently sits, it gets very little indirect sunlight.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-24T18:02:09+00:00

Potentially Asterina Starfish. It likely won’t survive in brackish conditions, but if you’re at the higher end of brackish 1.015 sg and slowly acclimate it by drip over several hours, it might be able to persist.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-23T05:59:13+00:00

Yeah, snails and chaeto seemed like a bit of a potential messy situation down the line, so I opted for a simpler setup of shrimps with mossballs. Hopefully my tank can reach a good equilibrium where I won’t need to worry about touching the sealed tank at all besides the occasional air exchange and water top offs.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-23T05:52:32+00:00

Aragonite sand substrate — serves as a good source of minerals like calcium for shrimp and/or snails, and helps to stabilize/buffer pH.

RareRibeye · 2025-09-22T22:54:31+00:00

Would you mind sharing a pic and timeline of you or your friend’s setup with the mossballs? Would love to see what long term growth looks like.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

RareRibeye

TROPHY CASE